Length of stay in hospital

Length of stay for selected surgical procedures

Appendix removal is a surgical procedure, either through keyhole surgery or open surgery. The data presented here relate to patients who stayed one or more nights for the removal of the appendix without either complications, malignant cancer or peritonitis.

Appendix removal: average length of stay

In 2014–15 reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Year

Number of overnight stays

Average length of stay

Peer group average

Total overnight patient bed days

NP Reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Gynaecological reconstructive procedures are repairs to the female reproductive system for conditions such as prolapse. The data presented here relate to women who stayed one or more nights for gynaecological reconstructive procedures without complications.

Gynaecological reconstructive procedures: average length of stay

In 2016–17, there were a total of 111 stays at this hospital for gynaecological reconstructive procedures, of which 96% were overnight stays. The average length of overnight stays at this hospital was 2.2 days, compared to its national peer group performance of 1.9 days.

Hysterectomy is the surgical removal of a woman's uterus (or womb). The data presented here relate to women who stayed one or more nights for a hysterectomy without complications and where there was no malignant cancer.

Hysterectomy: average length of stay

In 2016–17, there were a total of 190 stays at this hospital for hysterectomy, of which 100% were overnight stays. The average length of overnight stays at this hospital was 3.1 days, compared to its national peer group performance of 2.5 days.

Average length of stay

Average length of stay

Data source

About the measure

The average (mean) bed days for overnight stays at a public hospital for a given Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Group (AR-DRG) version 6.0x.

Calculating the measure

‘Number of overnight stays’ refers to the number of stays that begin and end on different dates. A stay in hospital may be a complete hospital stay (to discharge, transfer, or death), or a part of the stay if there was a change of care type (for example from acute care to rehabilitation).

‘Total overnight patient bed days’ refers to the sum of the days from the beginning to the end of the stay, for overnight stays.

The average length of stay is calculated as the number of patient bed days for overnight stays divided by the number of overnight stays. The calculation excludes people who were transferred to another health care facility within two days, and people who died in hospital.

Only data which met certain criteria are included in the calculation. The criteria for calculating and presenting results are:

Stays for acute care

Stays that begin and end on different dates

50 or more overnight stays in the category (in the denominator)

After all the above rules were applied, a small number of exceptionally long stays were excluded as outliers, using this formula: